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Why should you support Into Thy Word

Our articles, research, essays and curriculums are designed for any Christian, church leader or pastor to get to know and teach the Bible better.

Missions Information Letter

Dear Into Thy Word Friends and Family:

Into Thy Word Ministries is a small Missions organization with a call upon our hearts to bring discipleship materials to pastors and everyone who needs them here and overseas for free. And we need your help!

First a reminder of what I do and who we are: Into ThyWord Ministries vision is to provide Christians with the most effective tools and the most effectual means to better understand and apply God's Word to their lives. Our call is a dedication to teaching people all over the world how to study the Bible in a simple, clear, and concise way! We do this through seminars, missionary efforts of training pastors overseas, church leadership consulting, curriculum development, and our interactive website resources!

Into Thy Word (ITW), as a mission, was founded in 1988 at Richard's home church in Pasadena California under Pastor Paul Cedar who is the founder and Director of "Mission America." ITW was an outgrowth from his seminar on "How to do Inductive Bible Study." He then was "coerced" by Pastor Paul to step out of his comfort zone to take it overseas to Russia. Since then, he have been writing books, articles, and the rest of us developing the curriculum which have been translated into various languages. There are over 2,500+ ITW associates who personally distribute our Discipleship Tools and Curriculums in over 80 countries through CDs, booklets, and electronically. In 2000 Richard was further challenged by Pastor Paul and Billy Graham to take this ministry fulltime, thus, started ITW's passionate efforts of training pastors and missionaries fulltime overseas targeting Russia, China, India, and N. Korea! We incorporated (pending 501-3c) as a ministry, with the launch from our interactive website, again at the personal request of Billy Graham. We now do over 70% of our mission and outreach through the Web. Our website has been in the top 10 of all Christian websites, we have received numerous awards, we get between 5000 and 8000+ hits a day, and we have over 1,000 articles of sold Biblical curriculums designed to help people grow in Him! (But we are not a "web ministry;" we are a missions organization, a part of Mission America and we work with the USCWM!)

Richard has been with ITW teaching inductive Bible study principles at camps, retreats conferences and churches all over the world since 1978. We do it also to give people opportunities and tools so they can learn how to gain those life-impacting insights from the Bible. One of the great tragedies of the church today is fewer and fewer people are reading the Bible. Fewer and fewer people are living the life of being His disciples than ever before. As Christians living in America today, we tend to be more concerned with who is coming to our church-- and how many are coming-- and less concerned with making disciples, which we are called first and foremost to do.

We believe that the lack of Bible study and Bible knowledge is one of the root causes of the problems that most Christians face, because without this knowledge, they are unable to make healthy and wise decisions. It is also one of the root problems that our churches face. Our churches are riddled with conflict and strife when we are called to be a light in darkness, salt to a flavorless world, and a haven of rest. Yet, we choose to ignore our call and place our focus upon our selfish needs and quests, when it needs to be upon the foot of the cross, Who Christ is, and what He did for us as revealed in His Word.

Because of the aforementioned reasons, we have remained committed to Christ and His call to 'Into Thy Word Ministries'. We at 'Into Thy Word' are committed to teaching people how to find the time for Him, how to be His disciples and how to understand His Word. In so doing, we believe that the church will flourish in power and commitment for our Lord's glory! Then, we can be the light in darkness and the flavor and rest in the harshness of life. We can be the people of God, so we can do the work of God!

Why should you support us?

Our passion is to glorify Christ (Colossians 1). Currently, we are training thousands of pastors and church leaders all around the world. We are providing the training Curriculum to over 10,000 pastors in India, training over 50 pastors in Pakistan, vicariously planting churches there (100 thus far), developing the curriculum for "Campus Crusade for Christ" to use in their seminaries in Africa, coordinating church planting and evangelistic teams to various parts of India, and of course, Richard is busy writing. His new book, "A Field Guide to Healthy Relationships" will be out after the first of the year! The answer is, you can be a crucial part of continuing these endeavors!

By the way, Richard receives no money from ITW, he does get royalties from his books, but that is less than $2,500 a year (he would make more money at Burger King). Even though Mary his wife works fulltime, and they live very modestly, because of the rising costs of life in Southern California, they are unable to meet their financial obligations. They are also trying hard to start a family. So the answer is, yes! We and our people need your prayers, and if you are called and able, ITW, Richard & Mary need your financial support too!

You can Partner with us by:

·PRAYER - Personal and professional-so the word gets out why learning how to study the Bible is important. In Matthew 9:37, 38 Jesus said, "The harvest is plenteous, but the laborers are few." We need dedicated missionaries to teach Biblical exegetical methods to Russian pastors, and we need people to help with administration and fundraising. We have many other places of opportunity, too.

·GIVE - We are missionaries, and ITW is a mission endeavor. We receive no salary while carrying out Christ's Great Commandment and Great Commission, and this requires money. With few exceptions, most of us could give more for the Lord's work. ITW needs to raise $7,000 a month, a small fraction of most missions organizations!

We need to raise support for our expenses of teaching people how to study the Bible.

We also need to raise over $5,000 for Bibles and CDs for our pastors in Pakistan and India!

·READ - Into Thy Word so you will gain more practical insights and encouragement in your study and devotions. This book is a product of over 20 years of ongoing research and study! Even seasoned pastors find this work insightful. You can order my book, Into Thy Word, fromany on- line bookstore such as bn.com or amazon.com or iuniverse.com. Just type in the name of the book, into thy word, in their search engine. You can also purchase it from our website. You can order it through any Christian bookstore through "Ingram Book Distributors" as a special order, or you can call 1-877-823-9235. Order the book, 'Into Thy Word'

·HELP - We are always looking for people to help us with administration, fundraising, translating our "Pastor Training Packs" into different languages. And, we are always looking for people to distribute them, too!

·PROMOTE - By spreading the word about Into Thy Word, and how people can get more out of their Bible and receive free, quality discipleship tools! If you have a website, please consider adding our site to your links page.

·BUY - You may purchase many resources-from books to cars-on our website through our association with Amazon.com. We then receive a commission that goes to our missionary efforts of training overseas pastors with solid Biblical precepts and leadership principles. The Into Thy Word Store

If you feel that you could be a part of this plan, any gift that you give would be extremely appreciated.If you feel led to support us, you may give "online" or conventionally by mailing it to the address below. Please make checks out to: Into Thy Word. A one time gift or an ongoing monthly commitment of your choice is greatly needed. Your financial gift will be the tool that God uses to keep this vital ministry going all over the world, but it is your ongoing prayers that will give me the strength, protection, and encouragement I need to be an impact.

By the way, all donations to ITW are tax deductible! In the spirit of our Lord's love, I thank you for your help. Many people will have a chance to experience the greater love of Jesus because of your support. Please feel free to call or e-mail me anytime for more information or to share your thoughts and prayers. You may also see "About" on our Website for more information, our statement of faith, and how you can better understand His Word.